JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It's estimated that 20 veterans commit suicide every day in the United States. In an effort to reduce that number, on Thursday, The Fire Watch Program rolled out a new app to help local veterans during crisis situations.
When it comes to helping warfighters against suicide, Councilman Rory Diamond said more work needs to be done.
"I'm just so tired of our national shame and our national disgrace of veteran suicide," he said. "Twenty veterans a day is totally unacceptable, we have to bring it down we have to do it as a community and we can do it, it's preventable."
Diamond is a veteran advocate who has committed his life to bring an end to what he calls an epidemic.
In a recently released veterans affairs report, there were more than 6,100 veterans who died by suicide in 2017. That number has hovered right around the 6,000 mark for each of the last five years nationally, with at least 500 veterans in Florida in 2017.
Nearly three months after the passing of the Fire Watch Program in Northeast Florida, coordinators are now rolling out an app to join in on the fight against veteran suicide.
The Fire Watch App is an extension of the support program which provides local resources for veterans to receive emergency help. With a simple tap, a veteran can get in touch with first responders or the veteran suicide hotline.
"Veteran suicide crisis is one that we are not winning, we're losing and we need to bring everything we have to the fight including all the modern technology," Diamond said. "Almost everybody has a phone and here's how we can help veterans wherever they are."
The app also aims to connect thousands of local veterans with religious leaders, volunteers and help them build relationships with them to provide one-on-one counseling and support.
"Fire Watch in the Army and Marines means the guy or lady who is waiting up late to keep an eye on their brothers and sister in arms to make sure that if harm comes, they will wake them up to be there to the rescue," he said. "The same thing now as veterans look after each other and see what's going on."
There also an option for anyone to make donations directly to the Northeast Florida vet suicide prevention agency, an opportunity for anyone to get involved join in on the fight.
"It needs to be a local effort," he said. "The way we stop veteran suicide is all of us working together, we're bringing our community tighter and closer together. Often the difference between not suicide and suicide is knowing that one person in the world cares about you and what we are doing is connecting Those people together."
The app is free, to download simply search The Fire Watch in your App Store or Google Play.